


Domesticating Max

by PurpleCrayon



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: F/M, Formula One, Red Bull
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-29
Updated: 2018-11-04
Packaged: 2019-05-14 16:14:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14772921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PurpleCrayon/pseuds/PurpleCrayon
Summary: Max spent too much time at the track as a kid, and has no idea how to take care of himself on his own. When Max gets moved up to Red Bull, his new teammate Daniel Ricciardo and his girlfriend take it upon themselves to teach him how to 'adult' and live on his own.Takes place in 2016 season.This is meant to be fun - I'm not trying to make fun of Max or anything. I think I remember him saying that his mom visited once a week to do the cleaning and laundry, and that's kind of where it sparked from. Dan and Max have such an adorable brotherly relationship, so I thought it would be cute to have Dan show Max the ropes and what not, since he's been through all that.





	1. Max vs. the Washing Machine

“Max, isn’t that the same shirt you wore yesterday?” Dan asked, half teasingly, half worried for his younger teammate, as they rode home after a team event together in Monaco.

 

“Maybe, I just grabbed something off the floor that looked clean.” Max shrugged.

 

“Oh, laundry day’s coming up?” Dan asked, because the shirt did not ‘look clean’ as Max had asserted.

 

“Laundry day? Um, my washing machine’s broken, I think, so I don’t know.” Max tried to brush off the situation, but it was clear he was nervous.

 

“Want me to take a look at it? My washing machine acts up all the time, so I’ve gotten pretty good at fixing it.” Dan offered.

 

“Nah, don’t worry about it, thanks bro,” Max smiled.

 

“It’s no trouble, really, you live in the same complex as me, so we probably have the same washer. I can stop by on the way home, if you’d like,” Dan pressed on.

 

“No, it’s fine, I’ll call someone to fix it tomorrow.” Max smiled politely, but Dan wasn’t giving in.

 

“Don’t waste money on that, it’s probably something easy to fix. Maybe we can fix it together -you know, a ‘team bonding’ exercise!” Dan laughed, and Max blushed as they got out of the car.

 

As they walked toward the building, Max looked down at his shirt and realized how noticeable the stains were, and thought of the growing pile of laundry on his bedroom floor. He couldn’t just keep buying new socks and underwear whenever he needed a clean pair…

 

“I wouldn’t want to take up any of your time,” Max declined, but Dan wouldn’t give up as he followed Max into the elevator.

 

“We’re almost to your flat, I can just pop in and take a look at it -five minutes tops.” Dan countered.

 

“It’s kind of you to offer, but I’m rather busy this afternoon.” Max smiled, and hoped Dan would leave it at that.

 

“Oh, I see, you don’t want me coming over.” A mischievous smile started on Dan’s lips as they excited the elevator. “You have a girl in there or something?” He tilted his head toward Max’s door.

 

“I wish.” Max laughed to himself. A girl, as in, maybe his mother, so she could help him clean and do laundry - skills Max didn’t pick up as a kid. He wouldn’t dare bring a girl back to his apartment looking the way it did now! “It’s just not very clean, that’s all.”

 

“If you want to tidy up real quick, I’ll run up to my flat to grab some tools to fix your washer, okay? I’ll be back in 10?” Dan stated, and hopped up the stairs before Max could reject his offer yet again.

 

“Shit,” Max said as he opened his door and saw the mess on the other side. “Shit shit shit shit!” He swore and tried to pick up as much trash as he could. He stuffed old take-out containers in the trash, and when that was full he resorted to hiding them in cupboards and the oven - anywhere to get them out of sight.

 

Dan knocked on Max’s door, which he hadn’t closed all the way, and the door swung open to reveal Max, trying to shove an empty pizza box into his dishwasher. Dan took a few steps in and surveyed the scene with wide eyes.

 

“Holy shit, Max, this is a bit more than ‘not very clean’!” Dan laughed at the mess in front of him.

 

“Sorry, I’m, uh, not good at this,” Max stammered as a blush formed across this cheeks.

 

“That’s cool, I understand; I was a young guy living on my own at one point. Now that I’ve got a girlfriend it definitely changes things.” Dan laughed, and made his way over to the washing machine. “Let’s see what’s wrong with this guy.”

 

“Maybe it’s not broken, I don’t know,” Max said quickly and hovered behind Dan’s shoulder as he opened the door to the washer.

 

“Well, it might be this pizza box you’ve stored in here.” Dan grinned and pulled the empty box out of the washing machine. “You’re lucky you can still eat this stuff as frequently as you do - I’m jealous.” Dan enviously eyed the box, which still smelled of pizza, and handed it to Max. He pressed a few buttons and played with the dials on the machine, but couldn’t find anything wrong with it. “Maybe we could try running it through a cycle to see if it works?” Dan suggested, and Max nodded. “Do you have some clothes to throw in there?”

 

“Oh I do.” Max laughed to himself as he ran to his room to grab the mountain of laundry growing in the corner. He brought as much as he could carry in his laundry basket back to the washing machine and dumped it on the floor.

 

“Wow, that might be too much for one load of laundry.” Dan shook his head at Max’s naivety, but smiled. “Let’s take a third of that and throw it in the washer, okay?” He suggested, not wanting to touch the clothes himself. “Do you have any soap?” Dan asked, and Max looked through a few cupboards (exposing the take-out containers he’d hidden there earlier).

 

“Here,” Max handed Dan a box.

 

“This is dish soap, do you have laundry soap?”

 

“Oh, um, I must be out…” Max looked at the box and realized he’d never used that, either.

 

“I’ve got some you can borrow,” Dan offered, and turned to leave.

 

Max groaned and leaned on the counter. “Oh fuck, he thinks I’m a slob.” He shook his head and attempted to clean a little more until Dan returned with the laundry detergent.

 

“It’s almost empty, just keep it,” Dan offered, and Max took the bottle.

 

“Thanks.” He smiled, and thought Dan might leave.

 

After a moment, Dan opened a little drawer on the washing machine that Max hadn’t seen, nor knew what it was for. “This is where the soap goes,” he explained, when he realized Max had never used the washing machine.

 

“Oh, right.” Max nodded, as if he knew, and started to pour the detergent into the drawer.

 

“Woah, okay that’s enough.” Dan laughed, and shut the little drawer. “We’ll wash this with cold water, since you’ve mixed your lights and darks,” he continued as he adjusted the settings. “And when it’s done, this is how you dry them,” he showed him how to turn the dryer on. “Though, if it’s anything like my dryer, it sucks, and you’re better off buying a drying rack to hang your clothes on to dry.”

 

Max nodded and took all this information in. “Okay, thanks.” He smiled, no longer feeling too embarrassed.

 

“Alright, if you need any more help -with anything- just give me a call, I’m right upstairs.” Dan said as he glanced around the apartment, realizing Max might need assistance with more than just laundry.

 

“Thanks,” Max nodded.

 

“If you want to come over for dinner, we’re having chicken, in case you want to eat something that didn’t come in a box.” Dan jokingly teased, and Max blushed.

 

“You’ve already been too kind, but thanks,” he said, and ducked his head a little in embarrassment.

 

Dan ruffled Max’s hair on the way out. “See you at 7 for dinner,” he called before slipping back up to his own apartment.


	2. Max vs. the Chicken

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Since I’m American, I’m going to use American cooking terms/measurements, even though that’s probably not what Max and Dan would use. Also, Dan’s girlfriend is fictional (it’s just easier that way :D )

Max trepidatiously knocked on Dan’s door at 7pm sharp. He brought a bottle of wine since he thought that was the polite thing to do when asked over for dinner, but now he wondered if he should have perhaps brought some beer instead? Does Dan even like wine? Before he could worry about this any further, the door swung open and his teammate greated him.

 

“I wasn’t sure you’d come,” Dan flashed his usual good-natured smile.

 

“Yes, I’m starving. And I brought wine.” He held the bottle out for his host, and Dan accepted the bottle.

 

“Thanks mate,” he put the bottle on the table. “Dinner’s actually going to be at 7:30, sorry.”

 

“Oh, I thought you wanted me here at 7?” Max blushed, hoping he hadn’t misheard Dan earlier.

 

“I did, because after seeing all the empty take-out boxes hiding around your flat, I thought maybe you’d like to learn how to make some actual food.” Dan shrugged, still smiling at his confused teammate.

 

“Oh, I see,” Max laughed and shook his head. “You’re probably right, though.”

 

“Cool, Chloe’s in the kitchen, why don’t you see what she needs help with, while I get the grill started?” Dan instructed, and Max hesitated before obediently heading to the kitchen. Max had met Chloe several times, and always got the impression that she was somehow the female version of Dan - yet slightly more mature. They both had that intrinsic need to be friendly and nice, yet knew how to have fun. Yet physically, with her pale skin and straight hair, she couldn't be more different than Dan. 

 

“Max! I’ve been waiting for you,” she smiled at him as she put her light brown/dirty blonde hair up in a ponytail to keep it out of her face while they cooked. She slipped on an apron to keep her outfit clean, and handed on to Max. “Want one?”

 

Max didn’t know what to say, so he smiled and nodded politely as he took the apron. “Thanks.”

 

“We’re going to learn something basic, okay? Rice, chicken, and asparagus,” Chloe explained, and Max again nodded. “Does that sound good? Do you like those foods?” 

 

“Yes, I love asparagus.” Max thought he liked asparagus, right?

 

“Okay, to start off, wash your hands,” Chloe instructed, and while he did, she continued going over their dinner. “We’ll get the rice started by boiling a cup and a half of water.”

 

“Okay, I’ll grab the water for you,” Max thought that sounded easy enough and took the measuring cup she handed him, and poured the water into the pot she indicated.

 

“Great, just turn the burner on, and I’ll grab the rice.” Chloe rummaged through a cupboard until she found the rice, and turned back to see Max still messing with the controls on the stove. “Let me do it for you, so no one gets hurt,” she smiled, but realized Max might need more help than she thought, as she turned the stove on. “Okay, while I rinse the rice, maybe you can get the asparagus ready. I’ve already washed them, so we just need to remove the stems. The trick is to grab either end, and bend it until it breaks; it should naturally break off at the point where the stem is soft enough to eat.”

 

Max blinked at few times as he took that all in and watched her do it a few times. “Okay, seems easy enough,” he said and got to it. Breaking the asparagus stems was actually kind of fun, Max thought.

 

Dan stuck his head around the door to check on them. “How’s it going?” He smiled, and kissed Chloe on the cheek. “Is he behaving?”

 

“I don’t think we have the next Gordon Ramsay here, but he’s a doll,” she laughed, and Max blushed. “When would you like the chicken?”

 

“The grill has to heat up a bit more, maybe 5 minutes?” Dan checked his watch.

 

“Alright, then I guess we’re getting started on the chicken next, Max!” She grinned, and pulled the chicken out of the fridge, while Dan grabbed himself a beer before leaving.

 

“Most importantly, we don’t want any cross contamination - so wash your hands after you touch the chicken,” Chloe chastised Max, and started opening the package of chicken. “We have three chicken titties here,” she paused when Max snickered, “sorry, ‘chicken breasts’, and we’re going to rub them with a blend of spices.  In the spice drawer next to you, can you find cumin, coriander, garlic powder, and smoked paprika?” Chloe asked, and Max started looking for the spices.

 

Max lined them up on the counter in front of him. “Okay, now what?”

 

“Here is a bowl, and some measuring spoons. Follow the instructions, and add the required amount to the bowl,” Chloe handed him the items, and decided to see what Dan was up to while Max completed this task.

 

She found dan on the balcony ‘watching the grill’ and sipping on his beer while he scrolled through twitter. “Hey,” she slid her arm around him.

 

“How is he, really?” He asked.

 

“He’s learning, but it’s going well - I think.” Chloe suddenly realized she hadn’t gone over the measuring spoons with him, and maybe that was a mistake. “You know, I’m going to check on him, actually.”

 

“That bad, eh? Can’t leave him alone for five minutes?” Dan laughed, but she brushed him off.

 

Max seemed to be doing okay when Chloe returned, and she added the rice to the now boiling water. “Looks good, now you just need some pepper, and half a teaspoon of salt,” Chloe grabbed the pepper grinder and sea salt for Max. “And 2 tablespoons of olive oil,” she added, handing him the oil.

 

Max held out a teaspoon and began measuring oil. “That’s a teaspoon, actually,” Chloe stopped him and showed him the right measuring spoon. “This is the tablespoon.”

 

“Oh,” Max froze and looked in the bowl at the spices he’d already measured. “Um, okay,” he shrugged and continued measuring out two tablespoons of oil. 

 

“Great, now mix that up, and then we’ll rub it on the chicken,” Chloe washed her hands and got a plate ready for the finished chicken.

 

“Alright, ready to rub the titties,” Max joked. “The chicken breasts,” he amended, worried she wouldn’t get his joke (even though she’d said it first), and blushed.

 

Chloe laughed, “Alright, let’s spice those breasts!” She and Max joked around as they set about rubbing the spice mixture on the chicken.

 

“This looks delicious!” Dan announced as he entered the kitchen. “Is this ready for the grill?”

 

“Yes, and we’ll bring the asparagus out in a few minutes,” Chloe replied, and turned to Max. “Okay, let’s wash our hands, and get the asparagus oiled up for the grill.”

 

Hands clean, Max drizzled the olive oil on the asparagus he’d prepared earlier, and Chloe finished it off with a dash of salt and pepper.

 

“I think it looks pretty good,” she said, and Max nodded. “Let’s get this on the grill.”

 

Max and Chloe brought the asparagus out to Dan, and he carefully placed it on the grill near the chicken.

 

“Smells good!” Chloe smiled. “I’m going to check on the rice.” She hopped back to the kitchen, leaving Dan and Max alone on the balcony.

 

“That apron suits you,” Dan teased. 

 

“Thanks,” Max responded sarcastically, then added, “but really, thank you. This was very kind of you and Chloe to let me make dinner with you.”

 

“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it,” Dan shrugged. “Like I said, I’ve been in your place before. Except, I grew up in an Italian household where knowing to cook was mandatory, so at least I had that.”

 

Max laughed, but thought about how different their upbringings must have been. He grew up at the track - either watching his mom or dad race, or on the go kart track himself. He’d loved it at the time, but was not realizing what he’d missed out by not having a ‘normal’ upbringing. 

 

Chloe returned with a plate for the chicken and asparagus, drawing Max out of his thoughts. “Max, there’s a corkscrew in the same drawer we got the measuring spoons from - would you mind opening the bottle of wine you brought?”

 

“That, I do know how to do,” he laughed and left to find the corkscrew. Dan and Chloe followed with the rest of dinner and set the table. Max had just finished pouring the wine when they sat down to eat, so he joined them.

 

“Do you want to take your apron off?” Chloe whispered to him, and Max blushed.

 

“Oops, er…” he fiddled with the strings to untie it, but managed to get it off.”

 

“This looks delicious, good job Max!” Chloe said when he sat back down.

 

“I just helped, really, it’s nothing,” he deflected, and blushed a bit more. “Thank you, both of you, for helping me; this is definitely better than getting another pizza or something delivered.”

 

“We’re glad to have you, and I like having an extra hand in the kitchen,” Chloe smiled at Max, and they dug in. “Asparagus turned out nice,” Chloe commented.

 

“Wow, this chicken,” Dan made a face and grabbed a glass of water. “It’s a bit strong.”

 

“Oh, um, I might have gotten the measuring spoons mixed up,” Max nervously scratched his neck. “Is it ruined?”

 

Chloe tasted some, and shook her head. “No, it’s just a little strong. Dan’s exaggerating,” she added and teasingly kicked him under the table.

 

“Sorry,” Max apologized. “The rice turned out well, at least,” he joked. The rest of dinner went well, and he again thanked them for teaching him a bit about cooking.

 

“Next, we’ll learn how to wash dishes,” Chloe grinned, and Max groaned. 

 

“Oh no, I think I have to go, my...mother is...calling me,” Max stood up and pretended to leave.

 

“Get back here!” Dan joked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t think I’m actually going to write about Max washing dishes, since that’s boring xD  
> This is the recipe I referred to: https://www.joyfulhealthyeats.com/the-best-grilled-chicken-recipe-with-spice-rub/  
> I haven’t made it, but I figured it would be easier to write the chapter if I had something to reference (looks good though!)
> 
> Thank you for reading! I can't believe this story already has 12 kudos :D


	3. Max vs. the Iron

 

Dan and Max sat down for an interview together before the latest race. After the two had their microphones hooked up, Max yet again tried to smooth out his shirt.

 

“That’s quite a wrinkly shirt there, Max.” Dan teased with his signature smile.

 

“It got all messed up in my suitcase,” Max explained and blushed as he looked down at the rumbled creases on his shirt. “It doesn’t look too bad, does it?”

 

Dan shrugged. “It’s good enough; we can still read the sponsor's names, and that’s all that matters really.” He grinned teasingly again, and before Max could react, the interviewer arrived.

 

Max self consciously tried to smooth out his shirt throughout the interview, much to Dan’s amusement, and nearly missed a few questions in doing so. By the end of their interview, Dan felt a little bad, and decided to help Max out once again.

 

“Listen mate, why don’t we go back to the hotel after this, and I can show you how to use the iron?” Dan suggested, though to Max it sounded more like ‘I’m going to teach you how to use the iron.’

 

Max nodded sheepishly and thanked Dan. “That’s probably a good idea.”

 

When they arrived at the hotel, Dan fidgeted as they got in the elevator together. They stopped at Max’s floor, and Max got out and turned slightly to look at Dan.

 

“I’ll be down in like 10 minutes,” he nodded back at him, and the doors slid shut. He pulled out his phone and called Chloe.

 

“Help!” He blurted out when she answered the phone.

 

“What is it? Did you forget to pack any clean socks again?” Chloe laughed to herself.

 

“No, I have plenty of socks. But I told Max I’d help him iron his shirt -because it was all wrinkly during our interview- so I offered to teach him how to use the iron in the hotel.”

 

“That’s kind of you, teaching the kid how to iron.”

 

“But I don’t know how to use the iron, it’s different than the one we have at home,” Dan sighed helplessly as he got off the elevator.

 

“Hmm...what kind is it?” Chloe asked.

 

“One sec,” Dan entered his room and went to the closet to find the iron. He picked it up and scrunched his eyebrows together as he inspected it. “I’m not sure, it’s foreign.”

 

“Can you send me a picture?”

 

“Good idea.” Dan snapped a picture of the iron and its controls, and sent it to Chloe.

 

“Well, for starters, you turn it on by just turning the dial to the right to the correct heat position. The lever above it adjusts the amount of steam….and it looks like you can fill it up with water at the top there.”

 

“Where?” Dan turned the iron to look.  


“That cap at the top?”

 

“Oh, okay. Thanks, that should be enough. Thank you so much, you’ve saved my ass.”

 

“Anything for little Maxie!” Chloe said jokingly. “He reminds me of my little brother a bit.”

 

“Yeah, he does,” Dan smiled warmly. “Well, I’d better get going. I told him I’d be down in ten minutes.”

 

“Good luck!”

 

Dan looked over the iron once more before leaving his room to find Max. When Max opened the door, Dan noticed he’d already set up the ironing board, and had the wrinkled shirt laid over it.

 

“Ready to go, I see,” Dan laughed.

 

“Yeah, I thought I’d get it set up,” Max laughed nervously.

 

“Alright, let’s have a look at this.” Dan picked up the iron and his heart froze. _‘Shit. It’s different than the one in my room’_ he thought and tried to look calm. He could figure it out, right? They must be similar enough, right?

 

“Do we need to plug it in? There’s an outlet right over here.” Max pointed out an outlet nearby.

 

“Yeah - er, no we should put water in it first,” Dan corrected, and tried to figure out where he was supposed to put the water.

 

“Water?” Max asked.

 

“For steam, it works out the wrinkles. That’s why people sometimes bring their clothes into the bathroom with them when they take a shower, so the steam will help them unwrinkle. Not like, in the shower, but hanging up on the door or something.” Dan explained, and gave up looking. “Nevermind, I don’t think we need that for this kind of shirt anyway. So, yup, let’s plug it in and get it turned on. What kind of fabric is this?”

 

“Umm…” Max picked up the shirt and looked at it. “Cotton?”

 

“Let’s check the tag while the iron heats up. Hmm…” Dan stared in bewilderment at the tag on the neck of the shirt for some kind of hint. “Low heat, see that there? So we’ll set the iron to low, so it doesn’t damage the material.”

 

“Okay, so here?” Max turned the dial to what must be ‘low’. “Ouch!” He pulled his hand away quickly.

 

“Are you okay? Did you burn yourself? You should run that under cold water,” Dan advised, and realized that like Chloe, Max reminded him of his little brother. Except Dan didn’t have a little brother.

 

“No, it’s fine, it’s just a little hot.”

 

“Right, so we’ll just spread the shirt out on the ironing board so it’s flat, like this,” Dan demonstrated. “And now that the iron is hot we can start…” He demonstrated to Max how to move the iron of the shirt to work out the wrinkles. Except, the instant the shirt touched the iron, it started to melt. “Shit, that’s not supposed to happen.” Dan chuckled and pulled the iron back.

 

“Is it too hot?” Max worried and double checked the temperature he had set it to. “Oh, um...” He’d read the dial backwards, and set it to high heat. “Oops. I suppose I’ll have to get a new shirt now,” he laughed, and eventually, Dan laughed and smiled.

 

“Christian will be mad you ruined a team shirt,” Dan teased.

 

“What?” Max raised his eyebrows.

 

“Nah, don’t worry about it. I probably did the same thing when I was your age.” Dan laughed, and Max relaxed a bit. “Let’s forget about this and grab a drink.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long delay between chapters! I didn’t realize it had been so long, sorry about that! I’ve run into a bit of writer’s block (even though I knew exactly what I wanted to write this chapter).
> 
> I forgot to ask last time, but what do you think of Chloe?
> 
> What should Max learn next? I’m thinking he needs to go back to the kitchen for another lesson or two xD
> 
> Thank you for reading, commenting, and voting! : D
> 
> PS: Credit to whomever made the header image. I found it on tumblr, and it was perfect for this chapter!


	4. Max vs. the Cake

      

 

 

As Dan’s birthday neared, Chloe thought she might take Max under her wing and teach him how to bake a cake.  A birthday cake, to be exact. 

 

At first, Max seemed overwhelmed by the idea and tried to get out of it, but Dan’s girlfriend was persistent.

 

“I’m sure it would mean a lot to Dan if his favorite teammate made him a birthday cake,” she smiled sweetly.

 

“Favorite teammate? Did he say that?” Max started to smile, but shook his head. “No, I don’t think I could manage to bake whole cake; remember what happened when I made chicken with you guys?”

 

“That was nothing, don’t worry about it. It’s not as hard as it seems, I promise. It’ll be, as they say, ‘a piece of cake’.” She smirked.

 

“I don’t get how a piece of cake is supposed to be easy…” Max complained.

 

“I’ll be right there the whole time,” Chloe coaxed.

 

Max sighed and knew there was no getting out of this, since he knew she was right - it was Dan’s birthday, and it would be nice for Max to make up to him for the recent life lessons Dan has taken upon himself to teach Max. Max recalled the mountain of laundry in his bedroom before Dan had showed him how to use the washing machine, and the endless string of take-out deliveries he survived off of before Dan and Chloe showed him some basic cooking skills, and realized Chloe was right. “Okay, let’s bake a cake!”

 

Later that week, when they knew Dan would be out for a few hours, Max slipped down to their apartment. Chloe had all the ingredients set out, as well as any bowls, pans, and measuring cups/spoons they would need. She handed Max an apron upon entering the kitchen, and bubbly explained what they were going to do today.

 

“Okay, so we’re going to make a very basic yellow cake with a standard buttercream frosting,” she stared.

 

“What makes it yellow?” Max interrupted.

 

“It’s just from the eggs.”

 

“So, no food coloring?”

 

“No, okay first-”

  
  


“Wait, what do you mean by ‘buttercream’ frosting? Is it made with butter and cream?” Max asked.

 

“Yes, but we’ll get to that later. The cake will need to cool off completely before we frost it, or the icing will just melt off. Any more questions?” Chloe asked and eyed him. Max shook his head ‘no’ so she returned to explaining the ingredients. “First, we will mix the dry ingredients in this bowl here.”

 

“Okay…” Max looked around and identified the ‘dry’ ingredients, or what he thought that meant. He dumped the flour, salt, baking powder, and the sugar into the bowl.

 

“Oh, actually...well, never mind.” Chloe bit her lip. It would be okay. “Normally the sugar is mixed with the butter in a process called ‘creaming’.”

 

Max snickered at that, and instead of rolling her eyes at his immaturity, Chloe just laughed. “We’ll just cream the butter on it’s own, I’m sure it’ll be fine. So, whisk the dry ingredients, and I’ll just add the butter to the bowl of the mixer.”

 

When they both completed their tasks, Chloe preheated the oven to the correct temperature. “Okay, now we add the eggs to the butter. Do you know how to crack an egg?”

 

“Um, no, I don’t think so,” Max sheepishly answered.

 

“That’s fine, we have four to add to the cake, so you’ll get some practice. Okay, I’ll do the first one. Just lightly hit it against this bowl to break the shell, and dump the contents into the bowl.” She explained as she demonstrated. “Then, check for any pieces of shell, before dumping the egg from this bowl, into the mixing bowl with the butter. Okay?”

 

“Okay…” Max picked up the next egg and tried to replicate Chloe’s action, but instead smashed the egg into pieces on the side of the bowl. “Oh shit, sorry!” He tried to pick the pieces up, but she stopped him.

 

“It’s fine, we have more eggs, we’ll try again,” she said and cleaned up the mess. “Alright, a little less pressure this time,” she instructed and handed him a new egg.

 

Max tried again, and this time successfully cracked the egg in two, and dumped the contents into the bowl. He removed a few shell pieces, and once Chloe double checked it, he added the egg to the mixer bowl. He repeated the process with the next two eggs without much fault.

 

“Okay, so far so good!” Chloe smiled and they moved onto the next item. “We just need to add the vanilla flavor, then we can move on to the final step.” She helped Max measure out the correct amount, and they added it to the mixer. “Okay, now we need to alternate between adding the dry ingredients, and the buttermilk.” She explained and indicated the two as she mentioned them.

 

“Why?” Max questioned, since he couldn’t reason why they couldn’t all be added at once.

 

“So the batter mixes more evenly and doesn’t get too dry or too wet all at once.” Chloe explained. Max nodded at this, and they continued. She showed him how much of the dry ingredients to add, and then how much buttermilk, and let him try it on his own. 

 

“Okay,” Max said with uncertainty as he dumped the flour mixture into the bowl -all at once. “Oops,” he grimaced, as flour puffed out the side of the bowl and all over the counter and himself.

 

“This is why we wear aprons,” Chloe smiled. “That’s okay, we’ll just add a bit more buttermilk this time to even it out.”

 

Max did as instructed, and turned on the mixer again, but on a much higher speed than necessary - sending flour and cake mix everywhere. “Shit, shit shit shit shit…..” Max swore and reached to turn the mixer off. “I’ve really messed it up, haven’t I?”

 

Chloe plastered a smile on her face, and gritted her teeth. “No, I’m sure we can still rescue it,” she said as she surveyed the damage. “It doesn’t seem too bad, actually. Let’s just turn it on a bit slower, and…” She watched the bowl as the mixer slowly came to life, stiring what was left in it. “There, looks good enough. Now, we can pour the batter into the two round pans here.” She moved the pans over to the counter, and let Max pour the batter evenly between the two. Well, what was supposed to be even.

 

“I think this one has a bit too much,” he said as he inspected the batter in the cake pans. 

 

Chloe double checked his work, and agreed, but it would be too difficult to fix it. “That’s fine, they don’t need to match perfectly. We’ll just pop them in the oven, and can you set the timer to, we’ll say, 22 minutes? There’s a little less here than there should be, so we’ll cook them for a shorter time.”

 

Max set the timer on the stove, and while the cakes cooked they cleaned up the dishes and got ready to make the frosting.

 

After a while, Chloe looked back at the stove questioningly. “Max, did you set a timer on your phone, or on the stove?”

 

“The stove, why?” He turned around to check. “Uh oh…” The time was still displayed on the stove’s digital clock where the timer should have been counting down the minutes. 

 

“Let’s just check on them to see how they’re doing,” Chloe said, not knowing how much time had passed. She grabbed a toothpick and stuck it into the middle of each cake. “Oh, these are definitely done, hopefully not too done.” She grabbed a few potholders and whisked the cakes out of the oven and onto a cooling rack.

 

“Those don’t look too bad, right?” Max asked as he looked over the two round cakes.

 

“No, they’re not burnt, luckily. They might be a bit dry, but that’s fine. Okay, onto the frosting.” Chloe went about setting up the ingredients they would need while Max read through the instructions.

 

“This sounds complicated,” he noted.

 

“It’ll be easier than the cake, I promise,” Chloe rebutted, and handed him some butter. “Unwrap the butter and put it in the mixing bowl.” 

 

Max did as told, and when instructed, turned the mixer on. This time, he could turn the mixer on higher without risk of getting coated in flour or cake batter. As the butter mixed to the correct consistency, Chloe helped him measure out the powdered sugar.

 

“This seems like a lot,” Max noted.

 

“The frosting has to be sweet, right?” Chloe joked, and watched him pour the sugar into the bowl. “Remember, slowly…” She warned, and Max smirked as he set the mixer on the lowest setting, not wanting to repeat the incident with the flour. 

 

“Is this within his diet restrictions, though?” Max asked after they’d added all four cups of sugar to the one cup of butter.

 

Chloe shrugged. “Dan loves cake, I’m sure his physio will find a way for him to make up for it. Besides, it’s his birthday.” She laughed.

 

“That’s true,” Max agreed. They added the last few ingredients, then set the mixer on a high speed to obtain the correct consistency.

 

“You asked about food coloring earlier, and there was none in the cake, but we could add some to the frosting if you’d like?” Chloe smiled as Max’s eyes lit up.

 

“Okay! What’s his favorite color, blue?” He asked, and Chloe pulled out the food colorings.

 

“Sounds right,” she said and handed Max the blue coloring. “This is pretty concentrated, so just add a few drops at a time so we can work out the right color.”

 

“Alright,” Max said, and gave the bottle a squeeze. Unfortunately, the bottle was fuller than he thought, and a  _ lot  _ of blue color splashed into the white frosting. “Shit.”

 

“Well, it’ll be a dark blue cake!” Chloe laughed and flipped the mixer on to mix the color in. 

 

“You know, oddly enough, this is almost like the shade of blue on our Red Bulls.” Max laughed, and Chloe agreed.

 

“He’ll love that. Speaking of which, we need to get cleaned up before he returns.The cake should be cool enough to frost now, so why don’t we do that.” Chloe explained and popped the cakes out of their pans. “Well, they’re a little warm, but it’ll have to do.” She placed the bottom layer -the thicker cake- on a plate, and slapped some frosting on top of it. “Try to spread this out evenly; it doesn’t have to be perfect since it’s just the filling between the layers.”

 

Max took the spatula from her and tried to do as instructed, but kept getting crumbs from the cake mixed up in the frosting. He tried to pick out the crumbs, but Chloe stopped him.

 

“Don’t worry about it, we’re going to cover it up.” She said, and asked him to help her lay the second layer on top of the frosting. He lined the cake up as best as he could, but it was off by a few millimeters - just enough to be noticeable.

 

“It’s not quite perfect,” he said and tried to fix it, but the cake seemed to have adhered to the layer of frosting.

 

“It’s okay, we’ll cover up any imperfections with the frosting,” Chloe smiled and checked the clock, hoping they’d finish before Dan got home. She showed Max how to add frosting to the cake and how to spread it around without picking up too many crumbs.

 

“Think you can do that while I finish up the washing?” She asked quickly.

 

“Umm, I guess so. Are you sure you don’t want me to do the washing, and you can frost it?” He offered and winced at the memory of his first attempt at frosting.  

 

“It’ll be more fun this way,” she grinned and turned back to the sink to wash up.

 

_ ‘Fun, right…’ _ Max thought sarcastically and laughed to himself as he spread the rest of the frosting around the cake, or tried to, at least. Huge clumps of cake started coming off as he spread the icing over the surface, and his attempt to cover it up only made it worse. “Chloe I think I’ve really messed this up,” he turned to her as she dried off the last dish.

 

“I’m sure it’s not too….” She froze when she saw the mess the cake had become, and burst out laughing. Max blushed, but couldn’t help but laugh too. “I’m sure he’ll love it either way. It’s the thought that counts, right?”

 

“He’ll love what?” Dan’s voice startled them as he stood at the doorway to the kitchen and they both jumped to cover the cake.

 

“You’re home, on time,” Chloe commented and checked the time. “Nothing, just…” She looked over at a snickering Max, who couldn’t keep a straight face. 

 

A smile started on the corner of Dan’s lips as he sensed something was up. His eyes flicked between his girlfriend and his teammate, until one of them broke and explained what was going on.

 

“Surprise!” Max moved aside to show off the cake.

 

“For me?” Dan’s signature smile spread across his face at the sight of the cake they had made. “Did you make this?” He asked Max.

 

“She helped.” He pointed to Chloe. 

 

“It looks...delicious,” Dan complimented. “I like this shade of blue, too.” He laughed when he made the same connection Max had.

 

“It’s an official team cake,” Max joked.

 

“Do you want to try it?” Chloe asked, and noticed the frosting was begging to melt off in places. She grabbed them all plates and forks. “I’ll let you do the honors,” she said as she handed Dan a knife.

 

“Alright, let’s do this,” he said and tried to cut the first piece. “It’s kind of falling apart,” he laughed and tried to hold the cake together as he moved the pieces onto their plates.

 

“We’d better put that in the fridge before it all melts.” Chloe rushed the cake into the refrigerator as Dan and Max dug into their cake.

 

“How do you like it?” Chloe asked Dan as he finished up his first bite.

 

“It’s not too bad. Maybe a bit dry, but, it’s still cake,” he smiled, and the blue frosting stained his teeth.

 

“Your teeth!” Max laughed, exposing his own blue-stained teeth.

 

“I hope this comes off before the press conference on Thursday,” Chloe remarked with a smirk.

 

“We’re just really supportive of RBR,” Dan joked.

 

“I’m sure Christian will love that,” Max said sarcastically before taking another bite.

 

“Thank you for the birthday cake, guys,” Dan said as they finished up.

 

“It was all her idea, said I needed to learn to bake, and that I should probably repay you for helping me out so much. And I agree, thanks, man,” Max gave Dan an awkward bro-hug.

 

“No problem, bud,” Dan reached over to ruffle Max’s hair. “You’re like the little brother I never had.” 

  
  


 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the recipe they used:https://www.crazyforcrust.com/basic-yellow-cake-recipe/
> 
> I’ve made this cake before, and it is delicious!
> 
>  
> 
> Sorry for the long wait between updates! I’ve had this idea since...Dan’s birthday, probably, and I was going to write a new chapter over the F1 break, but Dan’s announcement kind of threw me off a bit. I’m happy he’s going to Renault, though I’ll miss he and Max as teammates!
> 
>  
> 
> Thank you for reading, voting, and commenting! :D
> 
>  
> 
> PS. speaking of cake, I just started a new 5SOS fic (an 1920s AU) if anyone’s interested : )   
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/15857724/chapters/36938709


	5. Max vs. the Vacuum

With a few days off between races, Max found himself feeling a bit...lonely without his older teammate around. They had done countless interviews and ‘teammate bonding’ activities over the past few weeks for their back-to back races and had even flown together. Yet somehow, after spending a few days on his own, Max kept hoping to run into Dan in the halls of their apartment complex, or that he’d ask him out to go cycling together. 

 

After thinking it over, Max realized how silly that was, and just called Dan up. When he answered, Max wasn’t sure what to say, though.

 

“What’s up?” Dan asked, thinking Max might need some help with his washing machine, or maybe the dishwasher this time.

 

“Nothing, I was just, you know...are you free?” Max stammered.

 

“Yeah, Chloe’s got a friend over this afternoon, so I’m just kicking around here.”

 

“Same here, except the part about Chloe,” Max amended, and could hear Dan laugh. “Do you want to hang out or something?” 

 

“That would be great - anything to get out of this flat.” Dan laughed, and Chloe shouted something in the background.

 

“I think you owe me a game of FIFA, if you want to come down.”

 

“I’ll be right down.”

 

Max was getting the game set up when Dan arrived less than a minute later. “That was fast,” he noted.

 

“I had to get out of there. Her friend’s planning her wedding, and Chloe kept giving me these looks.” Dan shook his head. “Not ready for that.”

 

Max nodded in agreement, and noticed Dan had a case of beer in his left hand. “You brought some beer? Thanks, let me put them in the fridge.”

 

“I managed to grab it on my way out,” Dan explained and watched Max open his fridge - revealing absolutely nothing. “Haven’t been shopping much?”

 

“Shopping?” Max turned after putting the beer away and set two bottles on the counter. Grabbing the bottle opener, he joined Dan at the couch again. 

 

“For food?”

 

“Oh, no, well, we’re away so much, it would just go bad.” Max handed Dan a beer and sat down. “Grab a seat and we’ll pick our teams.

 

Dan moved some stuff off the couch to sit down next to Max. He looked around the apartment and raised his eyebrows. “I guess your mom hasn’t been here in a while?” He joked.

 

“She doesn’t clean anymore, says I’m ‘grown up’ or something,” Max answered without taking his eyes from the screen, too into their FIFA match to catch Dan’s hint. 

 

Dan nodded and tried to ignore the state of the apartment, but couldn’t focus on the game. Max beat him in every match, which was to be expected since he plays the game all the time, but it was almost too easy.

 

“Are you letting me win?” Max joked and turned to Dan, only to find him staring at a mystery substance on the carpet. “Oh, that’s um, probably the pad thai I spilled last week. No, wait, that was on the other end of the couch. Maybe it’s the pizza I dropped?” He raised his eyebrow to think.

 

“Would you mind if I cleaned it up real quick?” Dan asked, and Max looked surprised.

 

“Sure, I think I have some carpet cleaner in the kitchen.” He got up to find it, and Dan grabbed a few damp paper towels to get started on the stain. 

 

“This ought to do it, right?” Max returned with the carpet cleaner, and Dan was impressed he’d actually brought back the correct bottle.

 

“Yeah, actually, thanks.” He smiled and read the instructions quickly before spraying the carpet. Once he’d finished up with the pizza stain, he got started on the pad thai. “FYI, it’s usually easier to clean up if you catch it right after it’s happened. Once it dries it becomes a bit more difficult.”

 

“I’ll keep that in mind, thanks.” Max helped him finish it up, and put the cleaner away. He returned to the couch to continue playing, but found Dan looking through his closet.

 

“Where do you keep your vacuum? I just want to run it over the carpet quickly,” he explained.

 

“I think it’s in the back, maybe behind my skis?” Max joined him and moved some stuff out of the way. “There it is,” he said and pulled the vacuum out of the closet.

 

They both looked the machine over, not entirely sure how to turn it on. “Let’s plug it in first,” Dan suggested, and started unwrapping the coiled up cord. He handed the plug to max, and he found an outlet to plug it into. They returned to the vacuum and searched for the on/off switch, and finally started pushing random things.

 

“Is it this one?” Max asked, and the filter popped out. “Oops.”

 

“That’s okay, this looks like it needs a cleaning anyway.” He carried it over to the trash and Max made a mental note to clean the vacuum filter regularly. 

 

“Alright, let’s see how this runs.” Dan put the filter back, and pressed a button on the top of the device, sending it roaring to life. He and Max high fived at their success, and got the right attachment on the end of the hose before starting to vacuum Max’s carpet. 

 

After a moment, Dan noticed Max watching him intently. He paused his attack on Max’s dirty carpet and turned the vacuum off. “Do you want to try?” He handed it off to Max, who looked at the vacuum with wide eyes. “Just go over the carpet with smooth, even strokes, in a back and forth pattern until you’ve covered the whole floor. If you want, I can move the furniture out of the way so we can clean the whole thing,” Dan added, thinking this carpet had probably never been vacuumed in the months Max had lived here.

 

“Okay,” Max said, and with trepidation he flipped the machine back on, and the hose jerked in his hand.

 

Laughing, Dan grabbed a hold of it and helped Max get a grip on it. “Hold it like a golf club or a cricket bat,” he advised, though as far as he knew Max played neither sport. 

 

It took awhile to get the hang of it, but soon Max found the sound of dirt and debris getting sucked up the hose quite satisfying. Dan pushed the couch out of the way and Max cringed at the dirty carpet beneath it. The pair worked through the living room, the into the dining/kitchen area.

 

As Max was cleaning up the cheerios he’d spilled last month, Dan abruptly shut the vacuum off. “It’s probably time to empty all this gunk out.” He said, and worked to figure out how to open the canister. He and Max both made a face as Dan opened it and they saw all the dirt and gunk from the carpet.

 

“Yuck,” Max said with disgust, and Dan dumped the contents of the canister in the trash.

 

“That is nasty,” he said as he banged the last bits out. “Make sure you empty this frequently so you don’t burn the motor out.”

 

“Maybe that’s what’s wrong with our engines,” Max joked, recalling he and Dan’s recent engine failures. 

 

Dan snorted a laugh, but didn’t comment. “Well, looks like we’re out of beer,” he said with a quick check in the empty fridge. “I think that means it’s time for me to head out.”

  
  


“Thanks for helping me clean, though...is this because you were losing?” Max asked.

 

“What?”

 

“I was killing you in FIFA; did you decide to distract me by cleaning?” Max laughed as Dan feigned innocence.

 

“Nah, your floor just looked like shit, mate,” Dan teased and earned a light punch in the shoulder from Max.

  
“Well, thanks for helping me out, anyway.”

 

“No problem, any time!” Dan grinned before heading back up to his apartment. 

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can’t believe it’s been over two months since I’ve updated this? Sorry for the long wait, and thank you for reading!! : D
> 
>  
> 
> I have started another Dan fanfic, an imagine (mostly because I’m too lazy to come up with a main character!) https://archiveofourown.org/works/16453673/chapters/38530319

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading and commenting! :D


End file.
